The Makings Of A Lord
by ananya
Summary: The tale of what it was like before those 'dark years' for three Hogwarts students, and Dumbeldore's ex-favourite pupil.
1. Overlooking Hogwarts

Bitter

/BODY/HTML©My first solo fic! C'mon everybody, be proud of me. I'm not too sure where this is going, but its headed somewhere and if you keep reading you'll find out. 

Disclaimer – you know the story. Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books belongs completely to JKR

Anyway, on with the story.

~~~

The Makings of a Lord

Chapter One

Meredith watched. Lights went off in the castle, curtains closed, eyes that could have seen her return shut. Eventually, there was only one window lit by the glowing of a dying fire. Meredith started down the hill, the castle grew nearer and the fire grew weaker. She reached the gates to the Hogwarts grounds; she raised both her hands, palms out towards the gates. Making a simple pushing movement with her hands, she watched the gates open. She looked at her hands where her powers were harnessed; he had helped her do that. 

"Dear me, Professor Dumbledore. Are you not here to welcome your favourite student back?"

As her soft voice spoke the words, Meredith looked to the window of the fire. The fire died. Nothing could stop her now; she was on her way.

~~~

In another part of the castle, far away, Felicity lay awake. She was worried about her brother. Staring into the blackness that was her dorm, her brother worried her. He was only across the hall, yet she couldn't go see him. He wouldn't like it, and she mustn't upset him. He upset her, but she mustn't upset him. Besides, she wasn't sure he knew how he made her feel. He instability, the unexpectedness of his actions, the power he couldn't control, it all scared her, and she worried. She worried about him, she worried about his actions, she worried about his power. She worried now, but she mustn't go see him, she mustn't upset him.

She couldn't stay here though; there must be something she could do instead of staying here. She climbed out of her bed and checked the time. It was three in the morning. No one, except maybe a few of the house elves would be up now. According to Tupenny, even Filch went to bed during the night. She said she had watched him one night, and he had left Mrs. Norris on duty (which, according to Tupenny, she soon forgot about) and gone to bed himself at one a.m. It was two hours and approximately twenty-seven minutes after Filch had gone to bed, Mrs. Norris will have gone to sleep by now. Perhaps she should try to visit Tupenny. She might have been out that night, and no one would see Felicity. After all, everyone was abed, except maybe the house elves.

~~~

Everyone should be abed, except maybe the house elves. Meredith remembered, Burry, a friendly house elf used to come and visit her in the mornings. Once, she had told him to wake her as early as he dared. She had been woken at 5 o'clock by a Burry in a terrible state. He had not wanted to disturb her, but he had not wanted to disobey her. She remembered him telling her he had been awake for many hours, but only because he was to visit her early that morning. Meredith struggled to remember, but she couldn't. Was it at four o'clock or at five that Burry had told her the house elves usually woke themselves? She hoped upon hope it was five. She mustn't be seen. Meredith told herself the house elves would obey her, that if she was seen, she could tell them to tell no one. She shook her head as if to get rid of her memories, memories of Burry, memories of her past, memories of happiness. That had all changed. Hogwarts was for seven years only, her happiness had been limited, they had stopped it, and she was bitter.

~~~

Ta-daa! Told you it was short. Anyway, that's all I've written and I'm the review junkie, so, tell me what you think?


	2. Jealousy

Jealousy

Chapter 2

Disclaimer – Yes, I wrote the story, no, I don't own Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Filch, Mrs. Norris, house elves etc. they all belong to the great Ms Rowling, however I do own Meredith, Felicity and Tupenny.

The Makings of a Lord

"Oh, do let me in!"

"You don't know the password, child, you are not a Slytherin."

"I know I'm not," Felicity protested, she was about to add that she was glad she wasn't, but she thought of Tupenny. Getting the bust of Agrippa mad was not the best way to be let into the Slytherin Common room. If she saw a Slytherin she knew one would help her, let her in or at least wake Tupenny for her. The Slytherins weren't a bad lot really, both her brother and Tupenny were Slytherins; felicity knew most of the Slytherins as well as she knew Tupenny and Tom.

Tupenny and Tom, they were a pair. Tom's power and Tuppeny's mind. Tupenny got through to Tom, and he paid attention to her. Felicity envied that sometimes, how the two of them could share the closeness she had always wanted for Tom and herself. She convinced herself it was because Tom and herself were never really brother and sister. Tom had never really known this, but she had, Felicity knew about Tom, about his muggle father. Although Tom didn't know all this, she convinced herself it was because of Tom's past. She knew the real reason, she knew Tom saw Tupenny's mind, knew Tom learnt from Tupenny, strengthened his own mind. She knew Tupenny was closer to Tom than herself, she knew it was because Tupenny didn't worry. Felicity couldn't be sure if Tupenny even saw Tom's strength as she did, but she never worried about it, Tupenny never worried. He could get close to Tupenny because he needed to, and she could get close to him because she had no reason not to. To compensate for the invisible wall of worry that separated her from Tom, Felicity mothered Tupenny. Tupenny could look after herself, but there was something Felicity offered, the sense of security, perhaps, that Tupenny needed. In return she would tell Felicity her tales, tales of Hogwarts and its passageways, tales of the forest, tales of Tupenny's adventures. Often Tupenny wasn't alone around Hogwarts and its passageways, she was rarely alone in the forest and her adventures were almost always carried out with her partner in crime, Tom. Tupenny always remembered to leave Tom out of her stories; she didn't want to worry Felicity.

Felicity worried, she needed to watch Tom, watch his power, right now, to do that, she needed to see Tupenny.

~~~

Meredith knew he was there, she could feel it. Every bone in her tall, thin, seemingly weak frame told her he was there. She would find him, she knew she would find him and deep down he knew; he was getting ready for her.

~~~

Chapter two over and done with.Think I'll keep the chapters short, makes them easier to read. The last fic I (co-) wrote was about 14 pages per chapter until we made them shorter. Even then the first chapter was about four times the length of these. As I've already said, any feedback is more than welcome.


	3. Bitter

Bitter

Chapter Three

Disclaimer – I know what's mine and you should know what is JKR's and I'm not taking anything away from her, if it's from the books, its not mine.

The Makings of a Lord

Tom looked at Tupenny and Tupenny looked at Tom, they both grinned. At a nod, they both spoke together.

"Excalibur!"

"Ey! You can't just go yelling the password about anywhere, you know"

"Was that the password?" Tupenny asked incredulously.

"Oops," Tom added innocently.

"They're awfully sorry, I'm sure. They didn't mean to, Miss Agrippa." Felicity hated the idea of Tom and Tupenny getting into trouble, and it was a most dreadful thought to think that should happen on her behalf. Pleased at the politeness of the child, the bust returned to its aristocratic outlook on life.

"Well, my dear child, since they, and know you, know my password, I have no reason to not let all three of you in. Really, you seventh years shouldn't be letting a Hufflepuff into your common room." Agrippa and the stand she was on slid to one side and, laughing as they did, Tom and Tupenny helped the flustered Felicity down the stairs which led to their common room.

"She does pick strange times to come visit us." Tom commented once Felicity was out of earshot, rushing, as she always did, into the Slytherin commonroom.

"Yes, but have you noticed?" Tupenny answered, "She's never here for long when we're not. We always come to the commons soon after her, or vice versa. And we usually see her after a close shave with Filch, like tonight."

"I suppose you have another tale to tell." Tom was last down the stairs; he tapped the base of Agrippa's stand and it slid shut over them. Tupenny shivered in the darkness. She folded her long, yet graceful, arms and grinned.

"Indeed, with a few adaptations, I can be sure Felicity will love this one. Let's hurry, she'll be in the common room by now."

~~~

A window lit up, and a face looked out. It was the round, comfortable-looking face of Felicity, but Meredith didn't see that, she saw a glitch. A problem, it clouded Meredith's view. As Meredith's thoughts grew clearer, she saw the size of the problem, it was only small. Besides, he knew this face, and he had told her about it. Meredith knew all that he did, and he knew this face. She could be sure of it, she didn't know who this was; the face was too far away for him to tell her. Tom didn't know he was telling Meredith these things, he didn't know he was telling anyone anything; he knew so little, yet Meredith learned all she knew from him. He would be a new teacher, a leader for the right people, and he would last more than seven years.

The face was snatched out of view. There were more awake. Meredith's problem grew.

~~~

Felicity's motherly frame was curled up on Tupenny's bed, the duvet pulled up to her chin. Although what Tupenny was telling her horrified her she felt much better in Tupenny's company. Tupenny was standing in the middle of the room, dominating it; the fire behind her was creating a glow around the outline of her elegant figure and a halo around her head. Her hands were held at mid-height where she could best use them for expressive purposes. Her face was a picture of excitement and her eyes were alight with the enchantment of adventure. She was vibrant; there was something that emanated from her. Tupenny was telling one of her tales. 

~~~

Meredith looked up at the stars. She watched as a thick, black cloud made them disappear into the night. Meredith turned her attention to the familiar room she was in. The Great Hall, she knew it so well. She used to sit here, at this table.

Hogwarts was in full glory. The green and silver banners spanned the room; Slytherin had won, yet again. Most of the house tables sat quietly subdued, Gryffindor most of all. Meredith had never quite understood why the rivalry between the houses was so intense between Gryffindor and Slytherin. She knew, of course, from her seven years at Hogwarts that Salazar and Godric had never quite agreed on the way the school should be run, but why that should affect today's houses she couldn't comprehend. Meredith, herself, didn't feel like celebrating today. It was her last Hogwarts' feast, tomorrow she would have her last meal in the Great Hall, and then, after breakfast she would travel on her last trip using the Hogwarts Express; Meredith was leaving Hogwarts.

The memory was fresh and painful. Meredith could still see Dumbledore's happy smile. It was his favourite pupil's last feast and he was smiling. He would no longer teach his quickest student Transfiguration and he was smiling. Meredith didn't celebrate and Meredith didn't smile. Meredith turned cold and bitter. Meredith had left Hogwarts.

~~~

A/n - It took her three whole chapters, but Meredith's finally back at Hogwarts. Any feedback is welcome, I need all the help I can get. ^_~ 


	4. Tuppeny's Tale

Chapter Four

Disclaimer - As you probably know, most of the environment this story takes place in was created by J.K. Rowling and therefore belongs to her.

The Makings of a Lord

"Dark nights are the only kind found in the Forbidden Forest. This night was dark, but clear, the sky was as cloudless as a summer's day. The forest was alive. From the tiniest spider, to the tallest acromantula, everything was on the move. The skies were telling tales of the future, and the centaurs were there to read them. Though centaurs are private creatures, disliking the hassle that comes with the title 'being', some of these beasts are more forthcoming than others, and these are the beasts will tell the accounts the stars give, these were the beasts that Harmony met." Harmony was a simple character that Tupenny had made up, actually, it was a not-so-simple name that Tupenny was using, for everyone could tell that the tales of Harmony were Tupenny's own adventures, with, as Tupenny always put it, a few adaptations. "The centaur's name was Geldern, he was an impressive male, a pale palomino in colour. Like most centaurs he was alone that night, although centaurs rarely live alone, they are usually found that way. Unlike most centaurs, however, he did not start at Harmony's presence, he knew she was there before she realised he was. Geldern spoke cryptically, but, at least, he did indeed speak to Harmony. Harmony remained silent throughout the centaur's speech as a sign of respect, as she had been taught to do. What the centaur spoke of was the future."

~~~

Tom had left Tupenny and Felicity in the Common Room; they had descended down one set of stairs while he took the other. Slipping quietly into the boys' dorm Tom smiled at the thought of the tale his sister would, undoubtedly, now be hearing. It had been a strange night. It had started out normally, well, what Tom called normally; his life at Hogwarts was never really normal. Besides, as the wise Tupenny would say, where's the fun in normality?

~~~

"The future never can be seen too clear;

Your future will change with an event that is near.

Which path you take, you, I could tell,

But that would break the careful spell,

Which, for better or worse, is placed on you.

Though many would say 'If only you knew',

There is one only who will come to take

You from this castle and you she will make

Into the one whom the many will fear and how

This will happen you know not … but she's coming now."

Tupenny spoke the words fast and rhythmically, pausing, and adding emphasis in the correct places to make the words send a shiver through to room. Felicity was holding her knees to her chest, tightly. She was looking in open-mouthed awe at Tupenny who had been quite lost in the story she was weaving. Felicity cleared her throat waking Tupenny from her semi-trance, Tupenny looked expectantly at Felicity. Felicity had to swallow a few times before she could speak.

"Geldern said that to Harmony? Those exact words?"

"Those exact words, but he didn't exactly say them to Harmony…" Tupenny broke off, trying to figure a path out of the complicated web she was weaving for herself. "I mean, well … they must have been, because she was alone, right?" Felicity looked deep in thought. She didn't give Felicity the reassuring answer she needed. Felicity thought, in the innermost part of her mind, she knew that Tupenny was Harmony, and she knew that Tom would have been with Tupenny. She thought, if those words hadn't been spoken to Harmony, and Harmony was alone, they must have been directed to someone else. Felicity realised.

"They were for Tom weren't they?"

"No! No, no, there's no Tom in this story Felicity. They weren't directed to Harmony but to…" Tupenny was thinking quickly, she had come up with a puzzle she couldn't herself solve, besides, with one glance at Felicity's face, she saw, Felicity was ready to agreed to any cover up Tupenny put in place, but she wouldn't mean it, and she would worry.

~~~

The place hadn't entered her thoughts in over ten years, and now, in her late twenties, Meredith was back at Hogwarts, traipsing through the corridors of her memories.

The silver and green hangings decorated the room giving the great hall a gloomy feel. It wasn't that the hall didn't look as grand as normal, in fact the banners gave it a celebratory look, it was the atmosphere created by ¾ of the pupils that gave the hall its gloomy feel.

Meredith was not gloomy; she couldn't be, not today. Winning the house cup had never bothered Meredith; sure, when she earned her house points she felt a sense of pride, but that was because she'd earned the points, not because the house had. Today, she was too angry, too bitter to be gloomy. Meredith was a loner. There was little point in making 'friends' in school. Once out of Hogwarts she would begin to make her own way in the world. She could and would make it to the top because of her efficiency and independence.

She yawned, took a scroll of parchment out and a quill and wrote a quick, neat note to remind herself never to come back to Hogwarts. She would get shot of this place as soon as possible. In fact, what was the point of her being here?

Dumbledore began his goodbye speech; the great hall fell silent, apart from one noise. Meredith's bench scraped backwards, the screeching sound pieced the atmosphere in the great hall. Everyone turned to stare as Meredith stalked out of the room to her Ravenclaw dormitory.

~~~

A/n ~ Not all that much longer, but the longest of the three chapters so far.

Sooooo sorry about the loooong wait. The explanation? I hate school and my computer hates me, put the two together and what have you got? No time for writing! Plus, losing my hard drive didn't help, but I managed to recover this fic and others and they are now safely stored on backup floppy discs. yay!


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